BBC ClickOnline's Andrew Webb looks at the extent of technological progress in classrooms in various parts of the world and asks who's being left behind. In the remote village of Sarangpur, in India's northern state of Punjab, the children are getting the chance to enter the computer age in a mobile learning centre.

Pupils are taught the basics of computers - what is a computer, what it can be used for, what are the different parts of the machine, their functions, and how to use the keyboard and mouse.

Coming to grips with 21st century technology is a little daunting for some.

"We learnt the inner workings of a computer. In fact it's an electronic machine, through which we can send and receive letters," said student Kamar Kumar.

Obsolete lessons

In the big cities like Bombay, also known as Mumbai, computing is hardly an alien concept.

There are thousands of schools providing specialist computer education to meet the needs of global companies Sid Khanna, Accenture

One of India's more successful information technology consultants and lecturers, Vijay Mukhi, says students see computing qualifications as passports to lucrative careers.

But he believes that all too often Indian schools con pupils into believing they are learning state of the art technology, and the reality can be far from the truth.

"Forget about schools let's look at Indian businesses," says Mr Mukhi. "A lot still use DOS, which even Microsoft has forgotten about. So obviously most schools teach you obsolete software."

Emerging skills

Even if some Indians are learning out of date techniques, there is plenty of evidence to suggest the system is working.

Some industry estimates value the country's software export market at $8bn a year. Many analysts predict it will more than triple in size by 2007.

Sid Khanna of consultancy firm Accenture is one of the people fuelling the growth. He is helping build India's booming technology firms by funnelling investment from the West.

We're using a new technology in more or less the old ways and unless we can change that I don't expect any big differences in the educational system Jan Plass, New York University

He believes it does not really matter that some Indians fail to learn the very latest skills. More important, he argues, is they leave education feeling comfortable using computers.

"The fact is that India is churning out two million graduates a year," said Mr Khanna.

"Some of them are emerging with skills which are world class.

"There are thousands of schools providing specialist computer education to feed the demand and meet the needs of global companies. So there is a section of the population which has world class skills."

Computer chemistry

In Europe, governments are trying to ensure children know the latest technology inside out.

Kings College in the English city of Guildford is one of the world's most digitally switched-on schools.

PCs form key part of lessons at Kings College

Information technology is incorporated into every lesson and the timetable includes long spells in the computer lab.

Pupils here use computers for around quarter of their working day for all subjects. For instance if you want to analyse data collected in a chemistry experiment, you can input it into a computer.

If you are learning languages, you might be asked to check out a real French tourism site as part of an assignment.

Traditional teaching methods still have a place, but for students lucky enough to have a computer at home assignments are posted on the internet.

Pupils can go straight to the school's web site to look up class notes from the comfort of their own bedrooms. For those without a PC, the computer lab's open in the evenings.

"The school I first became a head of, in the late '80s, would have had one TV and video, perhaps a 16mm projector, a computer and probably a few electric typewriters in the office," said David Crossley, Principal of Kings College.

"It was an absolutely different world only 17 years ago. It's amazing the degree of change."

Old habits

It is a similar story in many US classrooms. Computerised reading tests are just one result of the $38bn spent bringing information technology to schools over the past decade.

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But some researchers fear much of the money is going to waste.

"Most of the use of computers is traditional word-processing and spreadsheets and browsing the web," said Jan Plass of New York University's education programme.

"Nothing that's really unique to computers and would really require computers to make a big difference.

"We're using a new technology in more or less the old ways and unless we can change that I don't expect any big differences in the educational system, certainly not in test scores," he said.

To varying degrees technology's changing the way children learn around the world.

The challenge for educators is to ensure no matter where pupils are that they are part of the computer revolution.