Here at COD, we have a wide variety of tools that are integrated into Blackboard to make them easier and more seamless to use in courses. However, while we have a lot of tools available, many faculty and staff might not know what they are, how to use them, or how to set them up. We’re aiming to change that! 

In this post, we’ll be sharing information about Picmonic. Picmonic is a picture-based mnemonic study tool, primarily aimed at the sciences, but that could be used in any subject where memorization is required. Read on to learn more about Picmonic and get some help in learning if it’s right for you and how to set it up if you decide to use it. 

What Is Picmonic 

Picmonic is a tool that uses audiovisual mnemonic learning to help students better retain and recall information from their courses. Picmonic was founded by two medical students who thought there had to be a better way to study and remember the large amounts of information they needed for their medical courses. 

Picmonic’s website is now home to more than 2000 video-quiz lessons that test users on the following degree areas: 

  • Physician
  • Physician Assistant
  • Nurse Practitioner
  • Pharmacist
  • Physical Therapist
  • Occupational Therapist
  • Nursing
  • Paramedic
  • Pre-health
  • Medical Terminology
  • Law
  • Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
  • Higher Ed and K-12 Science 

Each Picmonic video is about 3-5 minutes long and combines visual images and audio to help improve information recall. Immediately after each video, students will be asked to complete a short quiz. Picmonic believes that this process of story mnemonics helps improve mastery and retention time. 

While you will likely use Picmonic via Blackboard, there is also an app for both iOS and Android. 

Why Use Picmonic? 

If you’re teaching one of the subject areas that Picmonic provides content for (see the list above), then you may want to consider giving it a try, especially if your course requires a lot of memorization. 

Picmonic claims to improve subject mastery and retention (which they assert is backed up by scholarly research) and at the very least students may find the videos to be a more fun way to review content and study for your course. 

How to Get Started with Picmonic 

To use Picmonic, you’ll need to sign up for an account on the Picmonic website. The College does not have a college-wide site license for Picmonic, so if your division does not individually pay for the advanced features of this tool (some might, check with your dean) you will need to select the free account option. 

Once you’re signed up, you should be able to start creating Picmonic assignments for students. Picmonic has a complete guide on creating assignments in Blackboard here. You access the Picmonic tool directly from the content creator in Blackboard, so don’t look for it in the course tools menu. 

You can use ready-made content for students or create your own curated specifically for your course. 

If you need support with any questions about using Picmonic, you can contact them directly or make use of their Help Center  

Questions? Send us an email at learningtech@cod.edu