Kramden Institute, at 5010 NC Hwy 55, Durham, North Carolina, has a mission of bridging the digital divide. The organization provides free or low-priced refurbished computers to both adults and students. They also offer free beginning technology classes for adults, after-school STEM programs, and a low-priced technology summer camp.
You can find all the details on each of these programs, and more, on the Kramden Institute website.
Learn about how you can donate computer equipment.
Read on to learn about some of their programs.
Free Computers for K-12 Students
Kramden Institute provides free computers for students who don’t have a computer in the household.
- Students must be in grades K-12
- Students must not have consistent access to a working home computer
- One computer per household
- Students can be nominated by a parent or educator
- The free desktops come with an open source operating system called Endless and are pre-installed with over 60 apps including an offline encyclopedia and word processing applications.
- Tech support will be provided
- Computers must be picked up at Kramden Institute in Durham
Affordable Computers for Low-Income Adults
Kramden Institute’s Technology Access program offers low-priced computers to low-income adults.
- Refurbished desktop computers: $30
- Refurbished laptop computers: $70
- All computers come with Windows 10 installed
- Eligible people are below 200% of the poverty level or enrolled in certain government assistance programs
- Alternately, individuals can be nominated by a partner agency
- Computers must be picked up at Kramden Institute in Durham
- 90-day warranty with all computers
In-Person Computer Classes for Beginners
Kramden Institute offers free classes all year for adults age 18+ who are beginners to using computers.
The class includes:
- Microsoft Windows
- Word processing
- Other office programs
- The internet
- Social media
- If you attend all four classes, you’ll receive a free computer
Learn more, including the dates and registration for the next class. There are other classes available too, including coding for students in grades 6-8, a weekly computer club for adults and more.
Summer Camps
Check here for information about the 2023 summer camps. They’ll be announced in February. Scholarships are available, making the camps very affordable.
The camps include:
- Build a PC
- Coding Basics
- Drone Fight
- Creative Game Design
- Digital Creativity
- Digital DJ: Make Music with Code
- Electronics: Sound & Music
- Electronics: Motor Motion
- STEAM Adventures: Coding, Creativity and More
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