Today there is a significant demand for improving the quality of the educational process in higher education institutions, in particular, through the improvement of principles and methods of teaching various sciences by enhancing the practical skills of students and graduate students. The implementation of this task is particularly difficult in the context of distance learning (for full-time and part-time) and blended learning. This study corresponds to the current direction, as it concerns the study of the possibilities and feasibility of using additional tools for teaching disciplines within NoSQL. Paper's focus is on the justification of the use as an additional tool of a number of massive open online courses (MOOC) distance learning platforms, a comparative analysis of a number of platforms for their compliance with the established criteria. Examples of using MOOC MongoDB University within the discipline "Organization of NoSQL databases" are given. To confirm the facts of the expediency of using MOOC as an additional tool in blended learning and distance learning mode, the data of the survey of students are presented.