All forms of additional professional education of adults cover about thirty percent of Russia’s population. Extramural form of study at universities is focused mainly on the task to retrain or improve the skills of a specialist. Cultural and intellectual development, understanding the worldview is mostly outside of the immediate attention, both of extramural and intramural form of study. The constant attempts to fit distance education to the General learning standards of intramural studies, lack of training methods lead to the fact that every University trying to fit in a common framework follow its interests (sometimes with strongly commercial orientation) and practice its own teaching methods [1;2]. Traditional extramural form of study with its regular sessions, the need to travel and staying in big cities nowadays is hard to afford for many students due to the financial situation, another reason is inability to leave work and family, so the concept of lifelong education corresponds with the principles of modern extramural form of study within-post career development of a specialist [3].
It is important to specify the starting point, where the adult education is education for sustainable development. This position corresponds with the traditions of the Russian education, which has always been associated with the tasks of training and focused on the complete realization of person`s creativity. If we consider the fact that professional knowledge goes out of date every five or seven years, the formation and development of personal potential should be the base of a sound academic background. It is manifested in a person’s ability to set goals and find the ways to achieve them with the means of self education and self-actualization.
Education for the 21st century needs to respond more effectively to the changing needs of learners. Education of adults should be flexible and capable of adjustment, to give effect to the principle of lifelong learning. Mobility is manifested in the fact that the main basis of the organization of the educational process becomes the individualization of training focused on the specific goals of each student. An adult is able to concentrate his efforts to his own specific needs in the professional and life situation problems. Introduction of the distance learning in the framework of the educational process centered on the individual learner becomes innovative mechanism in achieving this goal [4; 5; 6].
A personal approach in the system of distance learning allows you to take into account the physiological, cognitive features of the adult learners. Also it is focused on the flexible variable methods of educational content implementation, ability to set up your individual timing in the remote system facility to use special computer tools in working with information databases, to maintain a constant mode of self-control. The important feature of this educational space is the development of new technologies of communication and the creation of the conditions to overcome obstacles of critical thinking (fear of failure, unusual situations, overestimation or underestimation of their own abilities, etc.).
The authors note that in the modern conditions the society should provide free access to education for everyone tailored to his interests, abilities and needs, while ensuring adaptability to life in the conditions of high speed information flows, preparation for independent activity and possible change of professional activity. E-learning allows the informational education environment provide a solution to these tasks. The educational fields in our country as well as new tendencies in the society development prove the necessity to create universe informational education environment on the basis of using update information technologies. The need to transform the educational methods is essential due to the fact that new level of availability of the high-quality education system is a must as only this new system can guarantee providing educational services to the millions of people. Distance learning is based, first of all, on the principles of individual schedule for the learners. With such form of education they have an opportunity to communicate with the help of telecommunication means, but they are remote from the teacher in distance and time. Process of distance learning consists of consistently alternating stages of contact and noncontact time. Duration of these periods varies, and the contact period sometimes can not be present.
The main task of the development of distance learning of system is granting equal educational opportunities to everyone, (no matter what region of the country they are) and also improvement of education quality by the means of the active use of scientific and educational resources of higher educational institutions. Additional education is intended to give a chance to each learner to receive both basic and additional education while having a job. It provides assimilation by the learners of large volumes of educational information beyond the scope of traditional classroom studies. According to the new State educational standards they will have to increase by 40-50 % the volume of self education of the learners. It makes the problem of self education extremely relevant. Also additional learning can be considered as a way to life-long learning education during. Various test techniques and tasks allow the learners to carry out self-checking when using some modern internet communication techniques. It should be noted that one of the main tasks of high education is transformation the learners into an active subject of training. They have to be psychologically ready to create the individual educational trajectory, to take information from various sources, to conduct the research (depending on individual abilities and vital plans).
Also it should be mentioned that one of the main factors to continue education and further self-education is motivation. The motivation of educational activity represents the system of activators which includes motives, purposes, interests, requirements, emotions etc. Speaking about an individual educational trajectory, it should be noted that the individual curriculum is important and carries out the following tasks: compensates the late educational dynamics of the learner; provides optimum conditions for the learners with specific psychological features; use of adaptation factors for the learners to master this or that course; gradual introduction to the maintenance of advanced courses; reduction the volume of unproductive load of the learners student.
Generalizing the aforesaid, the authors stress that the global changes happening in social and economic life of our society demand introduction of new approaches in education. It is necessary to develop optimum ways of organization the new forms of out-of-class studies within this type of training. The materials teachers work today are far from to be perfect, both in technical, and content aspect.
The secret of mental longevity is sophisticated and draws attention to the special mechanism of the brain which stands guard over its intellectual efficiency. However, it is actually drowses while solving routine problems which are not relatively new for the human intelligence. But if the intellectual over aim appears and it hasn`t been mastered by the humans yet this researching zones activates. So the whole brain itself experiences renewal and brings back a person to the creative age. The whole physiology of the brain, the zones of regulation of cardiovascular, nervous, reparatory and hormonal systems become active.
According to the data people can use these tools for the rejuvenating of the organisms and prolongation of the active life in general. A group of neuroscientific messages proves the existence of those interbrain reserves which help elderly people to master new information. For example, here is a process of solving the same problem by the young and elderly person. The brain of an elderly person is like a computer with a slower processor but with the larger data base so the task is to find suitable didactics to provide the long-life learning [7]. We believe this theme is very relevant because the world demographic scale is bending toward long-livers. The specific gravity of the elderly population is steadily growing, especially in economically developed countries and in Russia as well. To solve the problem is possible only by the means of the permanent education. The state will increasingly need qualified personnel between elderly people already now some important production areas stand idle without them.
However, what is most important at this stage is to expand the practical framework for cooperative activities and to develop the relationship through pragmatic identification of areas for collaboration. National and international public and private programs have complementary roles in achieving this goal. It is necessary to modernize the system of vocational education and training. In spite of the high literacy rates and excellent technical education of our specialists, there is a lack of project management skills, as well as a number of specific functional skills. The improvement of training programs based on best international experience and strengthening their practical component will enhance the level of skills in all industries [8; 9].
As many modern scientists stress the philosophy of educational policy in the system of lifelong education of adults has not completed yet. In our country it is at the level of state development. At a different level of demand there are pedagogical innovations, their analysis. Generalization and promotion of the innovation methods into the large educational practice does not always get a proper assessment and development. The educational system requires new approaches to the creation of educational programs and different teaching methods and techniques for different stages of postgraduate education [10]. All this requires special research, investigation, effective implementation and scientific-methodical descriptions of various innovations in additional education.
Failure of traditional «silo-based» budgetary mechanisms to support the delivery of the e-learning program is one of the factors of the implementation difficulties. To draw a conclusion it should be noted that the creation of the net of the permanent education will secure the influx of working people in the areas where their qualification, intellectual level and social responsibility are needed. We hope that our discussions today will help us to identify ways and means to overcome the obstacles in the application of that important principle.