Digital Storytelling describes the practice of combining narrative with digital content. Consider how Broadcasters present history and current affairs now e.g. "The History of Scotland" and "Who Do You Think You Are". Take a look at The BBC project Telling Lives which illustrates the concept of digital storytelling.

Theoretically it is suggested Digital Story Telling could be applied to any subject area as a legitimate technique that can support learning & teaching. Integrating skills from a range of disciplines is an obvious possibility and provides a natural fit for e-portfolios. In addition Digital Storytelling could provide a means of introducing technology to areas of the curriculum that sometimes have difficulty of seeing how it can be applied in non-technical disciplines.

Someone with little technical background should be able to create digital stories. Typically, a project starts with a script and then digital artifacts are assembled or created to illustrate the story which is then pieced together to form a short movie.

It is argued that as well as enhancing the oral tradition of knowledge transfer through storytelling, the process also has an impact on learners by forcing them to think critically about the combination of the elements that construct the story.

There are many easy to use online tools to support the concept over and above well known applications such as photostory3, Windows moviemaker or iMovie. Timeline tools, genealogy tools and the excellent Museum Box which provides tools for you to build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a online and virtual box.

http://www.learningtools.arts.ubc.ca/timeline.htm
http://www.geni.com/
http://museumbox.e2bn.org/index.php
7 things your should know about Digital Storytelling (www.educause.edu/eli )