[dorfuss]

I absolutely agree - it has to be something in the browser, because it has to be familiar and visual. No theory. Open the source, show people how simle html 1.0 elements work. Bold, italics, paragraphs, some simple styles. Then people would be able to see the link between the code and how it translates to what is displayed. I am not sure if 2 hours are enough to introduce javascript, but that is definitely the way to go next - you put a little script, like: calculate something easy, and diplay the results. But it shouldn't be about math, it should be about colours, shapes etc.

The third step would be about making them understand the difference between client and server side programming and between programs in the browser and standalone programs. But that's only if they get the first part.

I would also stress, from the very beginning, that it's really simple, that there is no magic or super-powers involved. Open a popular news website, open the source and change the articles on the New York Times website. You want to achive the "aha!" effect within the first 2 minutes, so that they are encouraged and positive about the idea. It's a small lie, but an important one.