I tried bringing up a discussion about the importance of Steve Jobs versus Dennis Ritchie in class, when both died and only one was talked about.
This was in a project, where we had to find very important persons, that impacted many people for the better.
In this debate, even though I was being as noob-friendly as possible (no using tech-jargon, and lots of explaining), nobody understood what the heck I was saying, or why it is important to the current world of IT.
I fear you may encounter the same problem, seeing as end-users (especially high-school kids in America (sorry guys, but that's my experience)) hardly gives a crap about what technology is being used over what, and what the benefits are. It's all just voodoo to them.
Good luck on your project though - be very careful about your explanations
