Im new, allow me to start small. Kernel?

Android OS is based on Linux. In Linux-speak, Kernel is basically the bare bones of your OS.

One way to find out what Kernel version you have is: settings > about phone: scroll down till you see your kernel version.

You can upgrade your phone two ways:

1. Via Kies - if there is an update for your phone, you can do it there.
2. Via Odin or Heimdal - here, there's usually updated ROM's floating around so just do research on which suits yours best.

For both cases, do research as there are quite a few pitfalls that you should be wary of, too many to mention here. Just search for Kies and Odin/Heimdal and learn as much as you can before you actually dive into anything.