Betty, thank you for an interesting topic. I am glad you explained the topic title. My first thoughts were: an educational technology? I think we should view technology as just that, another technology. I felt the question should have been: "Can Telecommunications, (as a technology) aid in the delivery of training/education?"
The answer I feel is yes. The second point then is: "Do we need to be experts in the technology or do we need to be competent in utilizing the technology to its full advantages?" I say that often we cannot be experts in all fields of learning delivery. In the military we use the term "Jack of all trades, expert at none." I believe we should be professional in the development of materials for educational purposes first and foremost, followed by proficient in using a range of technologies to deliver the material to the users. The concern I have is that we will forget our primary role, training/education, in the pursuit of using new technologies.
To the question (paraphrased): "How should we design teaching curriculum in a technology delivered environment?" This was the question that was posed to me four years ago on taking up duties in the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) computer-based development cell. After some thought, my response was and still is: "The same way that we design curriculum for the classroom." The point is: it is the message that is important, not the technology to deliver it.
We use a traditional ISD approach to the development of RAN training that ultimately focuses on learning outcomes. It is the development of these learning outcomes (enabling objectives, teaching points, call them what you will) that establishes the training material or lesson content. For our CBL development needs, this was the starting point for our technology curriculum--in essence the message. What follows is the means of putting the message into the hands, or rather the heads, of the trainee.
So in summary, to be a professional in the technology training arena is to be a professional training developer and a proficient user of technology. Secondly, the curriculum design for use within a technology delivered environment should not be too different from the development of a curriculum outside a technology delivered environment, because it is the message that is the most important component to the end user, the student.