The article presents the authors’ experience of implementing distance learning in the information and educational environment of the higher educational institution as one of the conditions of its innovative strategies. Based on the latest research on introducing distance learning in teaching foreign languages in the modern conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors identified the key semantic fields of the problem, namely: positioning the process of introducing distance learning for teaching a foreign language as a prerequisite for the innovative development of the university as a whole and its strategic planning in particular; identification of universal technologies and platforms that can be used in the educational process of the university: videoconferencing implemented on Zoom, Discord, Skype; television and satellite technology based on the use of interactive television: television and radio lectures, videoconferences, virtual practical exercises; email technology; network technologies for posting various educational materials; case studies. The article describes specific models for the implementation of distance learning technologies in organizing practical classes in English. It describes a step-by-step algorithm for using Zoom platform, a model for integrating this technology with network technologies that provide an opportunity to use educational and methodological materials of electronic information educational environment of the university. The authors carried out a comprehensive analysis of the experience of introducing distance learning technologies in the process of foreign language teaching of two universities of the Ural Federal District – Shadrinsk State Pedagogical University and the Ural State Pedagogical University and concluded that it is necessary to use these technologies as a condition for the innovativeness of educational strategies of the university.