My personal advice is that if your keen and enthusiastic and have time to spend playing and using the camera then I would stick to learning through free lines online - post photos on forums for crits and advice. Surf round a few at the same time to increase your chances of good comments and to broaden your inputs - also sometimes is worth to seek out a forum or community dedicated to a specific area of your interest with photography - like sports or portrates - that way you can get in touch with some really expert people in a specific area.
Also look to finding and joining a local photography club or local photography forums, that is a great way to get out and meet real people in the field and to shoot with them in the same light and conditions - many photographers have little to no problem in helping others learn the game.
If your willing to pay I would advise looking at workshops nad courses where you get in person tuition - online is always going to be retrospective in its application, the tutor cannot be in the field with you to shoot and advise. This is also important because one cannot convey what the shooting conditions were like through words alone - you can give a general idea, but not specifics which gets a bit limiting with advice - if the tutor is there with you they know the light, they will know the limits of what is possible and what is not.