According to the history of CALL-IS on our webpage, our community started to take shape in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1983 with some sessions, the name "computer-assisted language learning," and a plan to propose a new interest section. In 1984, CALL-IS became an official TESOL interest section.

At the 2009 convention, in Denver, Colorado, USA CALL-IS celebrated its 25th anniversary with a colloquium entitled "Celebrating 25 Years of CALL: Forging New Pathways," which was followed by a reception with balloons, cake, photos, and many past CALL chairs. One of the activities in the Electronic Village that year was a time capsule for making predictions about the future of CALL-IS or the use of computers in ESL/EFL for the next 25 years. Because we are approaching the 35^th anniversary of the founding of our interest section, I thought it would be a good time to open the time capsule for the first time to see the predictions that were made for 5 years into the future (2014) and 10 years into the future (2019).

Here are some predictions for 2014:

• More students and more teachers will be using technology.

• All schools will have internet access easily and seamlessly.

• Technology will be tinier.

• Smaller, faster technologies.

• Computers will be smaller, better, ubiquitous.

• Social networking in class.

• All classrooms will have laptops for students.

• 100% of EFL/ESL textbooks will include an e-version.

• Tiny projectors will have revolutionized interfaces.

• Webcams will be a standard of all computer systems and we will become truly transparent.

• Total convergence. My granddaughter holds up the cell phone for her caller and says "Look!"

• A new technology culture will emerge, embracing its own language and communication conventions.

• Computers will do lots of translation for you. L2 teaching will involve more pragmatics/culture and less basic grammar/vocabulary. Computers will translate and may be biological or sort of "alive" in some way.

• CALL-IS will take over the TESOL Board and make the association interactive.

• CALL-IS will be renamed the TIE-IS (Technology in Education Interest Section).

• TESOL will finally be adding a virtual strand to its conventions, like EUROCALL, CALICO, and IATEFL have been doing.

• We'll be spammed in every conceivable way, including social networking sites and virtual worlds. Legislation will be introduced to deal with virtual crimes—for example, virtual rape will be considered a crime as significant as physical rape. There will be disputes over ownership of anything and everything on the internet—content aggregators will be the prime offenders, laying claim to anything on or through their portal, but those sites that offer online collaboration spaces (think Google docs) won't be far behind. The heirs of Tim Berners-Lee will be suing for the right to royalties on use of the web (okay, so maybe they won't have any way to do that, and Tim may still be alive)…Well, somebody needed to give the un-rosy view!

Here are some predictions for 2019:

• iPods for class lectures.

• All teachers will be required to be computer literate.

• The web will be the base of language delivery.

• Technology more widespread/better access all around the world.

• Much energy will be focused on the use of handhelds in the classroom.

• The device brings all together (palm sized).

• Cell phones will no longer be banned from most classrooms.

• We'll be carrying around wireless devices doing social networking and professional work via voice all on one machine.

• Intelligent/learning/systems.

• We'll have digital paper.

• Eye and mind control devices will be common place.

• Most computing will be controlled by specially bred bacteria.

• We will have figured out how to use a virtual wax seal to show ownership, may have ceded all individual intellectual property claims, or may be living with draconian constraints on creation and distribution of online information. And schools may let students use handheld communication devices anytime, anywhere.

In 2009, Deborah Healey dreamed up these future titles for influential CALL books:

• Creative phishing as a language learning device

• Will you be my (social networking) friend? A modern-day Mr. Rogers

• Enough, already: Reducing unwanted texting in class

• Tips for staying sane in an overconnected world

I hope you have enjoyed reading these predictions as much as I did, especially the predictions that have come true. Technology is more ubiquitous, smaller, and faster (although I can't exactly recall the size or speed of our technology in 2009). I'll close with a comment from Vance Stevens, who was our first CALL-IS chair in 1984:

I always liked Elizabeth Hanson-Smith's prediction, "There will always be MORE technology."

In case you're wondering, very few people ventured to make predictions for 2034. Of those who did, the answers were quite similar: In just 16 more years (2034), technology will be bionic with the result that humans and Cylons will form a new race, or we'll become part of the collective like the Borg.

I hope you have enjoyed this special "Making Connections" column—looking back and looking forward. My thanks to all who contributed predictions.

Please e-mail me if you have suggestions or contributions to "Making Connections."

Suzan Stamper is senior lecturer and English language team leader at Yew Chung Community College in Hong Kong. She has been a CALL-IS member since 1995.