Colourfile Professional Plus mini site home page

Foreword by Steve Garrod, Manager, Driving Instructors Association

Colourfile Professional Plus quality and content

How to use the Colourfile lesson plans

How to use the Colourfile lesson plans

Answers to common questions about Colourfile Professional Plus

Colourfile offers and bundle deals

Go to Colourfile Professional Plus product page

Return to G6S home page

 

Colourfile Professional Plus

The Driving Instructors Association Preferred Visual Briefing System.


Colourfile Professional Plus

This mini-site is for ADIs, PDIs, and driving instructor trainers who have bought or are about to buy the new 2010 edition Colourfile Professional Plus. This on-line resource is designed to help you get the best from this new addition to the Colourfile range of teaching aids. If you have already bought the product you will find extensive advice here on how to use it. Whether you are considering buying the product as an individual or as a training establishment looking to incorporate it into your courses, we are confident you will agree that Colourfile Professional Plus is the  best product for driver training professionals.

Use the links and menu bars to navigate around this mini-site. You will find information on every aspect of the product and advice on use of all the diagrams it contains. We encourage you to revisit the site regularly for updates on availability of new paper-based and  animated Theory First publications/products which employ the same CGI resources found in Colourfile Professional Plus. 


Vehicle Safety and Maintenance ChecksTimes change, things move on! Never were truer words said when it comes to the Driving Test. Since ‘Colourfile’ first appeared as a teaching tool in 1990 the driving test has seen the introduction of new manoeuvres, a theory test, a hazard perception test and vehicle safety questions. The test continues to evolve with emphasis on eco-efficient driving and introduction of an ‘independent driving’ assessment. The training of instructors has also evolved to keep up with the needs of the profession and the clients it serves. The ADI is no longer expected to teach only to L-test standard; indeed to remain competitive the instructor must be able to give remedial or advanced tuition to qualified drivers and needs the tools to do so. With this new product instructors can equip themselves with a modern training aid designed to serve them well into the future.

It remains a fact that three quarters of your pupils' knowledge is gained from visual stimuli and quite naturally the DIA and the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) recommend full use of visual teaching aids. The high visual impact of this product is designed to attract your learners’ attention, stimulate interest and save teaching time. Colourfile Professional Plus promotes a structured approach to teaching by means of specified learning outcomes and coaching techniques, making it an excellent resource for the driving instructor trainer.

This training aid will help trainee and qualified instructors to select the relevant information for their lessons without reference to copious notes. Correct and effective use of Colourfile Professional Plus in a part 3 instructional ability test or check test will demonstrate candidates’ awareness of the need for a structured approach to teaching.

The guidance notes in this mini-site were written to help you use the visuals correctly. Remember that there is no single style of presentation or routine briefing for each subject that is suitable for all ADIs or for every client. Nor is this desirable. Learners differ both in ability and responsiveness to teaching content and style. The good ADI will vary his or her lesson delivery with these factors in mind. It is important therefore to adapt your use of this resource to the needs of your client's ability, aptitude and attitude so that lesson objectives may be achieved.

About this book:

Colourfile Professional Plus contains encapsulated colour diagrams and associated lesson plans. Where possible, the diagrams are laid out so that learning outcomes can be covered by the diagrams on the facing page. For some subjects this is impractical and you will find that the lesson can be better covered by reference to consecutive pages.

This product contains images from a virtual 3D environment. Mirrors give true reflections from within that environment. With virtual head lights and a camera in the head of our virtual driver, the images taken from the driver’s seat show exactly what a driver would see!

Other than for use as textures (e.g. the grass) this product is free of photographs which can distract a learner with their level of detail. By using the virtual environment it has been possible to limit the amount of information in the training images to that necessary to teach the subject matter. You will find that image complexity increases with lesson plans intended for the driver with more experience.

Diagrams are presented in ‘birdseye’ or plan view as appropriate for the lesson. In addition you will find a section containing workstations; these are blank road layouts taken in plan view from the main training diagrams. You can use these and/or the ‘white board’ to create your own scenarios with a dry wipe pen. This book is a self- development tool.

Without exception, the training diagrams are free of instructional text. This is because text on a diagram distracts both teacher and learner! Whilst you should heed the prompts given in the lesson plans it is not our intention to direct you in what to say or how to say it. You are encouraged to develop your own professional skills by using this product.

Lesson plans are cross-referenced for use with Pass Plus and contain tips on ‘eco-driving’ technique, the introduction of ‘independent’ driving and ‘journey management’. You will find material to assist with L-Driver theory and hazard perception training, through to advanced tuition for the fleet driver.

Before using this book you should read through it and make yourself familiar with the content. You might find it convenient to 'flag' the pages for ease of use