The pandemic has generated a surge of interest in distance education and computer technologies that help to optimise the educational process and make it more efficient. One of these technologies is the concept of simulation of reality or virtual reality. With proper implementation, this technology makes it easy to involve a student in the process of cognition, to make it more effective and simple. At the same time, however, a number of philosophical problems arise. One of these problems is the relationship between the virtual world and reality: whether the skills acquired in the virtual world will be transferred to everyday life; whether there will be confusion between the real and the illusory. The answers to these questions, of course, can only be found as a result of long-term experience. This article will analyse the main philosophical approaches to the problem of the difference between the virtual and the real, and will also identify some areas in which, from the point of view of the analysed theories, virtual technologies can be applied with the greatest efficiency.