OAKLAND – Three years ago, Duke Johnson, didn’t know a thing about computers.
“I just started learning to turn the computer on and terminology,” said the 65-year-old, retired sheet metal worker.
These days, Johnson spends eight hours a week in an intermediate computer class for seniors at Eastmont Computing Center in the Eastmont Mall . He owns a laptop so he can practice what he and about 25 other seniors are learning.
Eastmont is one of the few computer technology centers in the country that focuses on learners of all ages. And some of its most popular programs are for those who are least likely to be part of the digital age – seniors such as Johnson. The center has been offering senior computing classes for nine years to help boost the economic and social well being of Oakland seniors.
“It’s social. It’s not computers just for the sake of computers. They become family,” said Tony Fleming, director of the center.
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