Purpose: The COVID-19 crisis experience is shaping new guidelines for learning activities that need to be developed from an interdisciplinary and holistic perspective based on the analysis and assessment of potential impacts and social expectations. Design/methodology/approach: The research is devoted to the study of modern e-learning challenges in the context of social distance, the analysis of learning experience, problems and opportunities associated with online learning. The research was carried out at the "Blinded for peer review" and involved 300 graduate students. A qualitative method based on a two-step process was used in the study. The discussion allowed participants to discuss and compare personal learning experiences primarily related to the COVID-19 crisis. Findings: The results of the study demonstrated that online learning is an efficient tool for the development of hard skills while being less effective for the improvement of soft skills; they also allowed us to identify important aspects of professional personnel training which should be taken into account while developing a strategy for harmonizing on-campus and online education with the diversification of curricula by various pedagogical technologies and digital tools, as well as bringing social interactions into classroom activities. Originality/value: Due to the fact that most study participants were technical and economic students, it was concluded that the e-learning format is an effective methodology for the development of technical and digital skills of students.