Scratch

imnotbob wrote:

It's not really educational. . .

Umm... Hello? Did you see the resources I posted in the first post? 
On the serious side, I'm open to hearing many opinions!

veggieman001 wrote:

imnotbob wrote:

It's not really educational. . .

I'd disagree. It teaches several things, including community building and social skills on servers, perseverance, and it's a great creative outlet.

Exactly!

imnotbob wrote:

It's actually pulled me away from education by being so addicting.

That's kindof a responsibility issue though. I'm able to keep my grades high, & do fun stuff. 

Freakish wrote:

Minecraft teaches creativity, expression in ones feelings and connecting with others. I don't see why your mother wouldn't allow you to buy it.

Exactly! My mom is seriously unreasonable a lot of the time. 

Good point. Wilderness Survival is a big key in MC & real life! 

soupoftomato wrote:

Dinoclor wrote:

I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to use experiences from MC if I ever got into a situation where I was stuck in the forest.

No, it doesn't include punching trees.

But it does involve trying to go meters into the ground in a matter of a day with stuff made of wood?

That too, in a sense.

Writing essays is a good way to convince parents, they see how much you want it because you put so much effort into the essay.

How about a website where MineCraft is being used as a classroom tool? It's actually a blog, but you can read through the teachers experience of using MineCraft in his lessons. 

soupoftomato wrote:

Dinoclor wrote:

I'm pretty sure I could figure out how to use experiences from MC if I ever got into a situation where I was stuck in the forest.

No, it doesn't include punching trees.

But it does involve trying to go meters into the ground in a matter of a day with stuff made of wood?

But a day is a lot longer in real life than in MC, so you'd have the time.

Better than an essay...how about a slideshow presentation, maybe in Scratch?  When you're trying to sell higher management (your mom in this case) on an idea, they are often more responsive to colorful graphics and a good oral argument than to an essay.  Then, have the links to the resources available in an email follow-up letter.

If you need slideshow templates, I have a collection of slideshow projects over here.

Magnie wrote:

SilverDomination wrote:

Thanks to everyone for the ideas so far!
@Magnie, good point. Plus, many people have used MC in school for educational purposes, so I don't know why my mom won't let me get it.

Does she know you can use it for educational purposes? Maybe find some examples (like youtube videos) that you can show her.

Such as the blog that cheddar posted.

I've never played it, so I'm not the best to speak, but I've gotta agree with everyone who's said that it is educational. It improves creativity, perseverance, and many other things.