Onboarding with Solomon

In April this year, Solomon launched the first of its series of our Onboarding Modules, beginning with Onboarding for Fellowcraft Freemasons.

These Modules are designed to give members an opportunity to gain a deeper and richer understanding of their recent experiences within the three Craft Degrees. 

Each week begins with a webinar, which introduces the material and offers an opportunity for viewers to pose their questions to the presenter and guests for that week. Each course brings together a wide range of Quizzes, Papers, Nuggets and other learning material around the central theme for that week and for that particular degree.

Recordings are available if members are unable to attend the live webinars, and although these courses are structured into four-week groupings, users can go through the material at their own pace whilst the Onboarding courses are open.

Each Onboarding course follows a four-week structure.
The first week focuses on setting the scene and an introduction to the Module.
The second week is a webinar presentation focusing on a particular topic.
The third week is hosted by a discussion panel.
The fourth and final week invites the participants to reflect on what they have learned over the course of the Onboarding. It includes a final quiz.

The Modules also offer the opportunity for members to interact with each other via the discussion boards and to ask questions to the Learning and Development Team. Members can also earn digital ‘badges’, which mark their progression through the Modules following the successful completion of various quizzes.

These Onboarding Modules have been so successful that having completed Onboarding Modules for the First, Second and Third Degrees, we are now running them again for newer Brethren and for those that may have missed the opportunity the first time.

As all users of Solomon will know, however, our content is always growing, and we have begun working on the launch of an Onboarding Module for Companions to bring the same quality of material and course structure to those Brethren who have joined the Royal Arch.

Stay tuned on Solomon (and on your inbox) for updates on the launch of this Module and the opportunity to learn and engage with other members and with the Learning and Development Team.

Our content is not just for the individual Brother or Companion, however. There is a wide variety of material that Lodges and Chapters can utilise during their meetings, thus allowing members to keep learning and engaging alongside their Brethren and Companions, including delivering a Paper, Nugget or Presentation within the Lodge or Chapter.

There is a wealth of content on Solomon, which the Learning & Development Team, alongside our dedicated contributors from around the globe, continue to work tirelessly to expand and ensure that the resources available cover the widest range of topics possible. From viewing the famous Prestonian Lectures narrated by the Lecturers themselves, which are usually only delivered inside a Lodge room, to testing your knowledge with our interactive quizzes, there’s plenty of content to enjoy.

Whether it is from a Nugget, Paper, Quiz or Webinar, we want to give you the tools to learn, when you want, in the ways that you want.

Fostering Curiosity – Developing Understanding is not simply the central message of Solomon. It is the core value underpinning everything we do.

How to Register
Simply go to solomon.ugle.org.uk and fill in your details. Once you have received the confirmation email Login, select your first Module and Enrol. You can then begin your journey of Masonic learning and understanding.

A selection from Solomon
Solomon Live:
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/course/view.php?id=116#section-2
View all previous recordings and register for the latest Solomon Live

Onboarding for Entered Apprentices:
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/course/view.php?id=130

First Degree:
The Officers’ Jewels – Quiz
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2321
Test your knowledge of the various Jewels worn by Officers within a Lodge.
Nugget – The Four Tassels
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=624
Origin and symbolism of the Four Tassels and their association with operative masonry
Nugget – The Deacons and their ‘Wands’
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=622
The creation of the modern-day Deacons and the evolution of their wands.

Second Degree:
Second Degree Tracing Board Quiz
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2835
Test your knowledge of the Second Degree Tracing Board.
Nugget – The Five Noble Orders of Architecture
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=687
The development of the Five Noble Orders of Architecture as described in the lectures are explored.
Nugget – Between the Pillars
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=682
The association between the two Pillars from Solomon’s Temple and the two Wardens.

More general content:
Paper – Two Royal Brothers and the Union of 1813
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2875
The biographies of two Royal Brothers who presided over the Antients and the Moderns
The Chequered (Mosaic) Pavement
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=2870
The duality symbolised by the black and white Chequered Pavement, which characterises our Masonic Lodges.
Masonic Aprons over time
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=1579
A short history of the Masonic Apron from its operative beginnings to the present time.
Paper – A Glossary
https://solomon.ugle.org.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=1794
 



This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 46 October 2021 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in the Arena Issue 46.