{"id":156,"date":"2026-04-06T00:35:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T00:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quinlanforrest.com\/?p=156"},"modified":"2026-04-06T03:40:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T03:40:26","slug":"156","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quinlanforrest.com\/?p=156","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating misinformation education tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
Quinlan Forrest \/ April 5, 2026 \/ MC0 427<\/em><\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
What tools can we use to counter misinformation? This is a question that many people are asking. Some of the most effective tools I have discovered including RumorGuard<\/a> and the game titled Get Bad News<\/a>. In this post I will be showing and documenting how these tools work. I will even include a video showing Get Bad News, which I personally find to be a very fun game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rumor Guard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The National Literacy Project<\/a> created RumorGuard in 2022 to help people learn how to spot disinformation. The website offers lessons, quizzes, and tutorials. The site was designed in a way that is accessible to people of all ages.<\/p>\n
RumorGuard contains techniques for spotting misinformation, as well as giving readers examples of disinformation that has occurred online. My favorite article<\/a> they wrote discussed claims circulating online that Hurricane Milton was “geoengineered” by the government for some reason.<\/p>\n
The article tells us that the picture, which is a still photo of a video (seen below), wasn’t even filmed during Hurricane Milton. In actuality, it was filmed in 2021\u2014three years before the hurricane occurred. It also didn’t depict a hurricane but instead showed asperitas cloud<\/a> formations\u2014which are rare but entirely natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
From: RumorGuard<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Geoengineering<\/a> is real and is a way to manipulate the environment to manage and mitigate the effects of climate change. However, there is no evidence<\/a> geoengineering has been used for nefarious purposes. Partly because geoengineering is still largely conceptual and implemented on a small scale at this time.<\/p>\n
According to RearGuard, we should use five different factors for determining disinformation. These factors include authenticity, sources, evidence, context, and reasoning. Here is what they say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authenticity (Is it genuine?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Description: Misinformation often includes doctored or fabricated images and videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy: Use reverse image websites, like Google Images or TinEye<\/a>, to determine if the image matches the time and date of the original post. You can also use tools like FotoForensic<\/a> to determine if a photo has been altered.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source (Is it credible?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Description: Misinformation often comes from unknown or unreliable sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy: Investigate the “About Us” section of a website. Find out who runs the website and determine if they have credibility. Verify if an outlet is reputable using the Ad Fontes Media chart<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evidence (Is it supported by facts?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Description:<\/strong> Misinformation and disinformation are often distorted and outdated evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy: Look for direct links to documents, records, or scholarly papers. Research who the author is and determine their background. Try to determine if a claim can be backed up with multiple sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Context (Is the context accurate?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Description: One of the most common forms of misinformation is called “false context.” Often, pictures in posts containing misinformation may be real and unaltered; however, the context surrounding them is incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy: To determine the original date of an image or video, utilize reverse image searching or employ a program like MediaInfo<\/a> to examine the metadata, which may include the creation date of the video. However, be aware that metadata can be modified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reasoning (Is it based on sound logic?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Description:<\/strong> Misinformation often relies on flawed reasoning, logical fallacies, or appeals to emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strategy: Ask yourself if a claim is reasonable or logical. Take, for example, the conspiracy that the Moon landing was fake. It’s preposterous to think that a program that involved more than 400,000 engineers, physicists, technicians, and contractors was fake and that no one who worked on the Apollo program ever spoke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bad News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Bad News is an interactive game that teaches us about fake news and disinformation from the perspective of a “disinformation tycoon.” This game was personally my favorite tool for learning because it kinda let me pretend to be evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note: The claim that Trump threatened Canada<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n