I am considering a beginners course for photography at my local college in Bedford, so will be interested to hear how you get on sir.
Was gonna do the same for photoshop, as for me they need to go hand in hand.... take pics and digitally get the best out of them, but I hope to pick up enough from books and web tuts on this and save a load of cash.
Good luck with the course, and as I said, would appreciate it if you keep us posted.