Before delving into heavy duty photography websites, books or courses, I would suggest you really get to know your camera ...When I got my first digital camera five years ago (Coolpix 5000), I ended up ordering the "Short Course course in Nikon Coolpix 5000 photography" by Dennis Curtin - his book gave me a really good introduction on photography and how to use my camera (e.g. how does the camera "meter" or what is white balance bracketing and how to set my camera up for this type of bracketing). Check out the
http://www.shortcourses.com/bookstor..._canons3is.htm
-- there is a table of content on what he covers in the book, I highly recommend his books...
Re photography classes, one or more photography course(s) at SAIT or UofC will definitely help...the biggest advantage is that it forces you to go out and take pictures (and get critiques from your classmates)...having said that, there are a number of very good websites out there which will teach you just as much (and perhaps even more)...Some sites I like:
The other thing you might want to consider is posting your pictures on a website (e.g.
http://www.photosig.com/go/main,
http://www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1481) and having others critique it -- I personally find this a very good way of learning
Hope that helps,
ah