The development of modern Russian education in the context of its digitalization actualizes issues related to the presentation and use of existing educational resources in a new digitalized form, as well as to the search for new resources and models, methods, forms and means of teaching that contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of the educational process in school and university, but in the new conditions of the formation of a digital society. At the same time, the issues of virtualization of the educational process are of particular importance due to the use of virtual reality tools and technologies in teaching various subjects. In this context, the genesis of the concept of “virtual reality” plays a special role in the search for answers to these questions, since in the search for something new it is very important to rely on an understanding of how the concept itself developed, and not only from the standpoint of philosophy and general methodological aspects, but also from technological, in particular, from the standpoint of the development of virtualization tools and technologies based on the achievements of physics, informatics and other sciences. Of particular importance for pedagogy in this context is the description of the experience of using “virtual reality” and tools of virtualization of the educational process at different levels of education, since it is genesis and empiricism that allow in the future to determine new trends in virtualization of the educational process, and to deal with the negative consequences of virtualization in the context development, for example, cyberspace, with the help of achievements and special methods of psychological and pedagogical science.