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Electronic culture constitutes a new form of social adjustment in the digital era. Our study aims to reveal socio-cultural differentiation in the social group of Russian students whose e-culture is being shaped. Moscow students became our test group. To achieve the research aim we analyzed the concept of “e-culture” focusing on its theoretical and methodological interpretations. The paper provides an overview of current approaches to understanding electronic culture, namely competence- and activity-based approaches, axiological and institutional ones. Cultural studies of classical sociology served as theoretical and methodological basis for our applied research. Sociological approach enables to reveal the position of e-culture in modern society and detect its differentiating action on everyday practices and value system of distinct social groups. Thus, we suggest that we should extend our applied sociological study of students’ e-culture by using a significant indicator, i.e. reflective-axiological attitude towards electronic technologies. We surveyed students of Russian universities and can now conclude that students from different test groups shape their e-culture at their own pace. Reflective-axiological attitude to ICT exerts a significant impact on e-culture formation; due to operational thinking technical students shape their critical reflective attitudes faster than non-technical ones. Most young adults today are common users, which suggests low demand for ICT in educational and professional areas where young people are actively involved. Youth socialization employs traditional forms of information culture, for example, book culture.

Information and communication technologies, the Internet in particular, have a significant impact on all the aspects of social life. Therefore, it is necessary to study the problems, consequences, and scale of such influence in the sphere of different scientific disciplines (sociology, psychology, and cultural studies) as well as in the sphere of interdisciplinary discourse. There is a need for research adequate to the current situation of transition to a new technological mode, a digital society, which actualizes the demand for the formation of a new type of personality, a new elite. The new elite will be the bearers of the socio-cultural code of deep and systemic information processing, the owners of electronic culture on the basis of critical digital literacy and reflexivity. At the same time, specific empirical studies of recent years abroad and in Russia demonstrate the predominance of competences of information and communication technologies user, which is absolutely insufficient in the digital society. This research aims to analyze the value-reflexive attitude of Russians to the Internet based on the results of a specific sociological survey among the residents of Moscow and the Moscow Region, implemented under the guidance and direct participation of the authors of this article during the period of social restrictions imposed by state authorities in connection with the new coronavirus infection from April to November 2020 by online questionnaire. The research tools included a block of questions on the digitalization of the region, including a number of statements showing the value-reflexive attitude of the respondents to the Internet. The results show that the number of respondents, who regard the Internet as one of the modern civilizational values, exceeds the share of respondents who recognize the dangers of Internet addiction. The authors have revealed that an even smaller percentage of those aware of the relationship of Internet addiction and anonymity on the Internet with the destruction of moral and moral systems, the erasure of the boundaries of personal and public space, psychological problems. A significant proportion of those who exhibit dangerous symptoms of alienation from the real, physical and social world was recorded. It was determined that for the majority of respondents, the Internet space has not become a platform of freedom, creative fulfillment, a friendly environment. The article assumes that economic conditions could become the foundation for bringing people together in the Internet space. Intergenerational differences in the value-reflexive attitude to the Internet space are revealed. The authors draw attention to the fact that the elderly, as the bearers of the deep meanings of traditional cultural forms, reflect the risks and dangers of the Internet space to a greater extent than the young people and adults. The authors link the prospects for further research with the sociological monitoring, which will allow studying the dynamics of digitalization processes in the region, the impact of age characteristics of identity on the attitude to the Internet, and the formation of electronic culture.

This work is aimed at detection of factors promoting improvement of efficient teacher-audience interaction upon distance learning. This work discusses such issues as efficiency of presentation and absorption of material in the taught disciplines, characteristics of organization conditions of audience work. The attention is paid to advantages and disadvantages of distance learning for programs of vocational retraining. This article also analyzes the necessity to upgrade engineering and methodological support of education, which agrees with the trends of progress in implementation of University 4.0 model. The research was based on sociological surveying, which provided sufficiently complete pattern of attitudes of students in vocational retraining programs to distance learning during the pandemic. On the basis of this research, it has been concluded that most students positively assessed the distance learning platforms provided by the university. At the same time, it is sufficiently difficult to concentrate attention during 1.5 hours, which forced the teacher to search for mixed forms of education, alternating practical assignments or video clips with theoretical material. It has been concluded that the distance learning is an efficient measure of protection against coronavirus, though, under usual conditions, the students prefer resident course.