What? And make then question authorithy? 

This. Learning how to do this stuff at a young age is actually very beneficial to ones brain and helps you figure out puzzles and look for solutions easier.

My mom is a math teacher and has used Minecraft as a tool before. So why not?

Redstone alone makes it very good educational tool.

Besides, it's not only game used in classrooms, IIRC, Kerbal Space Program is another one.

If they were devoting a whole period to it per day I would agree with you. But they're not. They're just using it as one tool, and in that case there are plenty of awesome things that it can teach and develop in a kid--certainly moreso than just about any other game.

Personally, I'm very skeptical about the effectiveness of Minecraft when it comes to learning content ...

There's very few lessons to be had with it in my eyes as I trust textbooks written by professionals far more than some software that's originally meant for recreational use ...

What we need are BETTER students, not more creative ways to get them to learn ...

We have learned from texts for over a thousand years and that needn't

Of course it has the potential to be an educational game dude, is obvious, and thats why so many places are already using the game with that purpuse, and it works, is a game that estimulates a lot the creativity and is great for team work.

Agreed! If I had to play minecraft as an education "material," the only education I would get is how to build a mountain that has the shape of a lovely pair of boobies made out of blocks. Then again, maybe thats not exactly a bad thing to learn how to do

Maths, the notion that you can make things with other things, the idea of farming, teamwork, hand/eye co-ordination, creativity - the list goes on.

Minecraft is no good educationally if used in isolation, but is great as a tool to complement other methods of teaching.

It even improves vocabulary and conversational English, as I discovered when a language student stayed with us and played Minecraft with my kids.

I think Minecraft in schools shows that we rely too much on digital means and that we are loosing the sense of what real objects are. Many people use the argument that Minecraft is good to teach a kid how a 3 dimensional space work. I find it rather amusing that we do that by simulating perspective. When I was still in school, we used small blocks of wood that we stacked together for the same purpose. I thought it was great, you really understood the world by building it yourself... But I think I have to live with the time