In recent years a great deal of attention has been given to the range of problems involved in adapting curriculum materials designed in the Western World for use in developing countries. This study investigates the interaction between factors arising from differences in cultural background and technological growth with different approaches to the structuring of learning materials. Three groups of pupils, two in India and one in Britain, were chosen as representative samples for this purpose. The two Indian groups one from a rural and the other from an urban area display marked differences in cultural factors and their exposure to technological advances. The rural children in particular live in a society which lays great stress on the preservation of traditional sources of authority and many of the parents show scant concern for their children's schooling even in terms of basic literacy and numeracy. The technological explosion and changes in social attitudes which have occurred in other parts of the world have had little direct impact on their lives.