A gerund is the -ing or -ed or -d form of the verb used as a noun in a sentence.

Therefore, a gerund would be used in these positions in a sentence: as a subject,

predicate noun, direct object, object of preposition.
A participle is the - ing, -ed, -d form of the verb used as an adjective. Therefore it
would always be modifying a noun/pronoun.

Examples: Running is good exercise. Running is a gerund used as the subject in the
sentence.
The running water came from the loose pipe in the basement.
Running in this sentence is a participle used as an adjective modifying water.
Gerund phrases start with the gerund and include any words that go with that
gerund. What words modify a gerund. An adjective can modify a noun; and because
it is a form of a verb, it can be modified by a prepositional phrase.
Participial phrases will include the participle plus the words that modify the
participle. What words can modify a participle? Because it is an adjective, it can be
modified by an adverb. Because it is also a verb, it can be modified also by a
prepositional phrase.

Check out these sentences:

Running swiftly down the street, the boy won the race.
Running swiftly down the street is a participial phrase modifying the subject, boy. It
tells which boy you are talking about. The one running swiftly down the street.

Running in the rain and snow is not a good idea.

Running in the rain and snow is the gerund phrase and the subject of the sentence.
(Running is the subject and the prepositional phrase: in the rain and snow, describes
the type of running. (adj. prepositional phrase)

There is more help on gerunds, participles and infinitives at my website

http://members.cox.net/teachro/

Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.

he = who
him = whom
Examples:

Who/Whom wrote the letter?

He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct.

For who/whom should I vote?
Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct.
We all know who/whom pulled that prank.
This sentence contains two clauses: We all know and who/whom pulled that prank.
We are interested in the second clause because it contains the who/whom. He
pulled that prank. Therefore, who is correct. (Are you starting to sound like a
hooting owl yet?)
We want to know on who/whom the prank was pulled.
This sentence contains two clauses: We want to know and the prank was pulled on
who/whom. Again, we are interested in the second clause because it contains the
who/whom. The prank was pulled on him. Therefore, whom is correct.

Let's face it, whom is a problem word. Nobody seems to be quite sure about its
proper usage. As a matter of fact, some of the rules that have dictated its use in the
past are now considered "old fashioned" and are commonly ignored.

The truth is, very few people use whom in speech when it's technically correct. Even
scholars who know the rules don't always apply them. It just sounds too puffy
sometimes.

Example

"Whom were you talking to?" just sounds a little uptight, doesn't it? Most teachers
will use the word who in this case, even if they know better.

Nonetheless, the word still exists, and some people do take all grammar rules very
seriously. Some college officials, for example, will want to see and hear excellent
grammar in your communications. It's well worth your while to understand the basic
rules underlying the use of who and whom.

Whom is used as an object.

Who is at the door?

Whom did you see at the door?

Do you understand why who is correct in one sentence and whom is correct in the
other? The answer is, who is always used as the subject of a sentence or clause,
and whom is always used as an object.

In the first sentence of the set above, who is the subject. In the second sentence,
you is the subject and whom is the direct object.

Whom did you recommend for the job?

Are there any people whom you would recommend?

Notice, in both sentences, you is the subject. Whom is the object of the verb
recommend.

Whom is also used as the object of a preposition.

Prepositions include words like to, for, about, under, over, of, after, and before.

Look at these examples:

I'll begin my letter with the phrase: To Whom It May Concern.

I don't know from whom the love letter came.
They fought over whom?
After whom do I enter the stage?
Do you think these sentence sound odd? They do, indeed. That is exactly why the
word whom will probably disappear from the English language one day. It just
sounds a little awkward in many circumstances, even when it's technically correct.

So what can you do?

First of all, consider your audience. If you find yourself speaking to a person you'd
like to impress, like an admission official from Harvard University, for example, then
you should simply pause and think before you speak.

It won't sound strange. Think about it; many intelligent people pause a lot while
they're talking. They're thinking before they speak!

So if you're speaking in an important situation like the one above, stop and think
before using who or whom. Is it subjective case or objective you want to use?

If you're confused about subjects and objects and can't think fast when you find
yourself speaking in public, you can either avoid using who and whom or you can go
with your gut feeling and say whichever sounds better. You'll probably be right.

You can also use this simple test in your head.

Silently replace the word with he or him to see which sounds better. He is the
equivalent of who (subjective) and him is the equivalent of whom (objective).

For instance, if you want to decide which is correct in this sentence:

Who/Whom should I consider as a college recommendation?

Re-arrange the sentence in your head so it will make sense using him or he. You'll
come up with the following choices:

I should consider him...

I should consider he... Him is clearly better. Therefore, the correct word in the
sentence above will be whom.