Computer software giant Microsoft is working to teach young Latin Americans the joys of computer programming through its recently launched I Can Program initiative.

According to EFE, Microsoft's I Can Program initiative will reach over 1 million Latin Americans. It is geared toward those who are 12 to 25 years of age. The Redmond, Washington-based company will offer the initiative to youngsters in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Through the program, Latin Americans can sign up for two different online courses for free: One Hour Coding (the course will conveniently begin in Colombia during the country's Coding Week, which runs from Oct. 6 - 10) and Learning to Program.

In a statement, Microsoft said that its One Hour Coding course will give students "a playful immersion in the computer sciences." It is a short introductory course that will teach pupils the basics of coding and how to make applications.

Meanwhile, the Learning to Program course will show participants that "technical complexity in application development tools is a myth and that everyone can do it," Microsoft said in its statement. The course consists of 12 sessions.

In addition to having access to free courses, I Can Program participants will also receive the various devices needed for programming, "from the first steps to the final product," Microsoft said.

Also, the initiative will get even more interactive thanks to tools like downloadable files, videos and evaluations.

The I Can Program initiative is not Microsoft's first efforts in reaching out to potential Latin American programmers. In 2004, the company's Microsoft Research branch created the Latin America Internship and Fellowship Program, which aims to "further strengthen relationships with professors and graduate students in Latin America" by selecting participants to work in research in universities in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the program overview.

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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