The article shows the advantages of using modern electronic learning tools in the training of specialists for the mineral and raw materials complex and considers the basic principles of organizing training using these tools. The experience of using electronic learning tools using foreign teaching materials and involving foreign professors is described. A special attention is given to the electronic learning environment of the Cisco Networking Academy – Cisco NetAcad. The experience of teaching at the Networking Academy of the Saint-Petersburg Mining University is described. Details are given to modern virtual environments for laboratory work, such as Cisco Packet Tracer, GNS3 and Emulated Virtual Environment. The experience of using electronic learning technologies at the University of Economics of Bratislava is considered. It actively cooperates with a number of universities of other countries, such as the University of International Business (Almaty), the Eurasian National University named after LN Gumilyov (Astana) and the Institute of Social and Humanitarian Knowledge (Kazan).