I'm going to take a basic photography class at the local college and the class requires a SLR or compact digital with overrides. How do I know if my camera has these features.

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 digital camera that was purchased in 2005. The camera has optical image stabilization, which alleviates camera shake problems. The camera lacks manual control over shutter speed and aperture and has no optical viewfinder. This is all I know about the camera.