Abstract
This article presents the results of a sociological study conducted among students of a Kazakh higher educational institution on the basis of which the image-forming criteria of the virtual image of a teacher were determined and their influence on the moral attitudes of students is shown. It is established that one of the most significant ways to increase the prestige and authority of the profession is a positive image of a high school teacher. This issue has acquired particular relevance in connection with the situation that arose against the background of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the forced transition to distance learning. The analysis of the phenomenon of the image of Kazakh and foreign studies allowed to define the essential content of the concept of «image», to determine the criteria of the structural components that make up the image, to identify the functions of the image of a teacher in the educational environment. The studied technologies of forming a positive image of a teacher allowed the authors to develop their own technology for creating a virtual positive image of a higher school teacher.