For me the fastest way to pick up techniques was to read about them and try it and then try it again.

Places I got tips are The Digital Picture.com, Adorama Learning Center, Scott Kelby's DTownTV, Moose Peterson's Webite, and Syl Arena's website for speedliting flash tips.

I agree with the Kingb "Get a good book like Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, read it and try out the techniques".
Bryan has a whole series of books out there. I also read and enjoyed Scott Kelby's series Digital photography, a great place to start.

Check the local library. Photography is very popular and they will most likely have a good collection.