How can Minecraft possibly be educational? For lots of reasons. Minecraft helps (in a way) with learning Reading, Writing, Math, Geometry, Music, Social Skills, Technological Science, and Linguistics. Instead of doing your homework and playing Minecraft, you're technically learning :D

Reading: Names of inventory and items are a place for kids to read, because the word corresponds to the picture next to it. For older kids, reading guides and wikis help.

Writing: People can use the book and quill inside the game to keep a log, or pass communication between other players.

Math: The crafting mechanism helps teach simple math (I need 1 wood for 4 planks and I need 2 planks for sticks.) Which also converts to multiplication; (I need 3 paper and 1 leather for a book and 3 books for a bookshelf, so I need 9 paper and 3 leather.) As this goes, math is very important in Minecraft and could be educational.

Geometry: While Minecraft is only made of cubes, the creations might resemble other shapes. (Cube,Cuboid, Square Based Pyramid, etc.) Also counting the blocks dug out in a 6x6x3 cave could help with understanding volume and area. The game is all about three dimensional graphing. A world is based on x y and z coordinates. This is also a useful method of gaming and is also a part of high-level math.

Music: With some redstone circuitry playing around with note blocks can teach kids about notes, octaves, and chords.

Social Skills: By logging on a server and playing with others people can learn how to work together to build, explore, as they develop social skills, especially teamwork.

Technological Science: Redstone circuitry provides people to build logical circuits and combine them for complicated purposes (Yes I'm looking at you, Disco.)

Linguistics: Through the options menu, players can select languages to use. If someone can name an item by sight, there is a higher chance that they will be able to comprehend some words of a new language.

Thanks! -Cheese0803